[0:00] 23, I'm reading at verse 44, Luke chapter 23 and at verse 44. It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
[0:19] While the sun's light failed, and the curtain of the temple was torn in two, then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.
[0:32] And having said this, he breathed his last. As we know, the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross is at the very heartbeat of the Christian faith.
[0:47] Of course, when we talk about the death of Jesus, we don't mean the actual moment where Jesus died, although that is very significant in itself.
[0:59] When we talk of the death of Jesus, we, of course, talk about everything that was involved, all that Jesus achieved, all that Jesus did by and through his death at that particular time.
[1:13] And here we have Jesus hanging on the cross. And this was the moment that the authorities had longed for. They had for a long, long time.
[1:24] They were plotting and planning and wondering how they were going to get rid of him. And finally, the time has come, and here is Jesus hanging on the cross. And they thought by this action that they would be rid of Jesus forevermore.
[1:40] And as we know, nothing could be further from the truth. Because what was taking place on the cross at that very moment was, in fact, what was going to usher in in a way that had never been seen before, with the power and the coming of God's Spirit in a wonderful way, and where the very cause that they tried to remove began to flourish and to grow.
[2:06] It takes us back to the dream that King Nebuchadnezzar had in the book of Daniel, and where there was this great statue, remember, of the head of gold and the chest and so on of silver.
[2:18] And then this stone that came down, hewn without hands, and demolished this huge statue. And this stone just grew and grew and grew and filled the whole earth.
[2:30] And, of course, this was a prophecy of the coming of the kingdom of God. And this is, of course, what was going to happen through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[2:41] And Jesus is on the cross, as we said last night, ultimately because of his commitment and love to his Father, and because of his commitment and his love to us. And, of course, that's why Jesus came into this world.
[2:56] It was to die for our sins. It wasn't, we've said it often enough before, it wasn't the nails that held him to the cross. He could have come down from the cross at any moment. In fact, they were mocking him from below the cross.
[3:09] We read about that very thing, that they were saying that. Verse 35, and the people stood by watching, but the ruler scoffed at him, saying, he saved others, let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the chosen one.
[3:26] And as they mocked like that, they didn't realize that Jesus couldn't do both. Matthew, I think it's Matthew that says, quoting from that, he saved others, but he cannot save himself.
[3:42] They were mocking, but they were actually telling the truth. Because Jesus couldn't save himself and save others at the same time. If Jesus had come down from the cross, if he had said, right, I'm going to demonstrate the power that is in me and the power that I have depending on my Father in heaven, and I will come down from the cross, nails and all, it would have been an amazing display for those watching.
[4:09] But it would have been the end of our salvation. Jesus, as we said, it wasn't the nails that held him to the cross, but his love for us. And we've always got to see that and always got to remember that that is why Jesus was on the cross.
[4:25] And then we move from below the cross to the actual cross itself. And Luke shows us that one of the criminals, there were two criminals, one on either side of Jesus crucified, that one of them railed on Christ.
[4:44] But when we go to Matthew's account, we find that both of them at the beginning railed on Christ. They were both mocking Christ. And it's quite extraordinary that they were actually, those who had been crucified with Jesus, rather than identifying with Jesus as they were going through the exact same physical suffering, were actually siding with those who had crucified them.
[5:11] It's quite extraordinary. And so one of them railed on Christ, and he's saying, one of the criminals, verse 39, are you not the Christ?
[5:21] Save yourself and us. And some people will say, here's this man, and he's praying. He's asking Jesus to save him. But this criminal is not asking Jesus to save him in the way of salvation, of saving his soul.
[5:38] It's to save his life so that he can get back to living the kind of life that he was living before. And that's not the kind of prayer that Jesus is going to answer.
[5:50] Because he was really saying, I have no interest in you, Jesus. I don't want to be saved spiritually. I don't want your salvation. But I want to get off this cross, and I want to get back into life and living the way I lived before.
[6:04] And there are so many people like that who will maybe ask the Lord for this and that regarding life, but they'll never ask the Lord for eternal life.
[6:15] They're interested in what God will give them and how God will benefit them as they live out their lives here. But they're not interested in the greatest benefit of all, which is eternal life, the salvation that Jesus died for in order to give us.
[6:32] And so, here we see the huge distinction between the two criminals, because one is asking, save yourself and us. And it's not salvation he's asking for.
[6:46] But then the other criminal, his eyes were opened to see that this person who was beside him was indeed the Son of God. And it was an amazing opening of the eyes, because at that particular moment, Jesus looked anything other than a Lord and a Savior.
[7:09] Isaiah tells us that his face was battered beyond recognition. His visage was so marred, he was unrecognizable. He had been flogged by a Roman flogging, and many a person died under that.
[7:23] And he had been abused in every way beforehand. And he was in a terrible state physically, from all that he had suffered.
[7:36] And any person looking at him, hanging there, would never, at a human point of view, just humanly thinking, this is the Son of God.
[7:47] This is the Savior of the world. But this criminal, his eyes were opened to see that that's exactly who was beside him.
[7:59] And so he asks and he says, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And so it's an amazing prayer, an amazing moment. And it's just like it says in Psalm 34, this poor man cried, God erred, and saved him from his distresses.
[8:18] And that's exactly what happened to this man on the cross. And these two men on either side of Jesus, at one level, show us a picture of all lives in this world.
[8:30] Because there are only two possibilities. There aren't three, there aren't four, there aren't ten, there aren't a multiplicity of different roads that we travel down. There are only two roads, two paths.
[8:41] There's a broad road and a narrow road. No other. And there's only one way of salvation, and that is in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you think about it, this is the seriousness of it.
[8:55] The one criminal, as far as we know, died beside Jesus and died rejecting Jesus. Because I believe it's a picture of all lives taking place there.
[9:11] on Calvary, on Golgotha. And that man died, he died as he lived, he was lost. And the awful thing is, that happened 2,000 years ago, and he's still lost today.
[9:29] Lost in hell. It's a fearful concept, and will always be, always. Won't change. But then we have the other side.
[9:40] We have the other criminal who cried out. And he said, oh, it was the most simple prayer ever. Lord, remember me. And Jesus did. He heard us cry, and he said, yeah, you'll be with me today in paradise.
[9:55] paradise. And that man, as he closed his eyes in death, his eyes opened, spiritually, his eyes opened, as his soul left his body, his eyes opened in glory.
[10:12] And he is there still. That happened 2,000 years ago. But today, he is enjoying in the fullness, the presence of God, and will forever, and ever, and ever, and ever.
[10:26] And as we say, these two criminals are pictures of all lives. So, we now come to verse 44, and we find that the whole land was plunged into darkness.
[10:41] And this happened at midday, although it says there, it was about the sixth hour, and you'll see there the sixth hour was noon, and the ninth hour was 3 p.m.
[10:56] So, Jesus was on the cross for a long time, but something happened at noon, and the whole land was plunged into darkness.
[11:09] It must have been an amazing thing. It wasn't just at Calvary, it wasn't just on the cross, but all around. It just plunged into darkness. People would all of a sudden be having to peer, peer through the darkness, trying to make out, and they would be seeing the silhouette.
[11:26] Rather than seeing everything in the full light of day, you'd be peering into the darkness, seeing the silhouette. So, what is happening? Well, we believe that this is God's divine judgment being shown.
[11:41] And we read about that often in Scripture of God's judgment shown in darkness. For instance, it tells us in the book of Amos, On that day, says the Lord, I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.
[12:00] I will turn your feasts into mourning and your songs to lamentations. This was talking about his judgment for sin. And that is what God is doing at this moment.
[12:13] He is judging his son because of our sins. Not that Jesus himself had any sin within him, but Jesus at that point is taking all our sin upon himself.
[12:28] And God is dealing with Jesus Christ as if he was dealing with us throughout eternity. And so, this darkness is symbolic of God's judgment of sin upon the sun.
[12:43] And very likely, there was also tied into this darkness God's displeasure of what was happening towards those who were crucifying his beloved son.
[12:55] And of course, it's out of that darkness, in this darkness, that Jesus cries out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And so, we've always got to remember that in that darkness, in the intensity of the agony, in the unbelievable woe that Jesus was experiencing, in this fearful sense of abandonment and forsakenness, and loneliness.
[13:23] And he's crying out in the agony of his soul as his father is punishing him because of our sin. Jesus is experiencing our hell.
[13:36] Somebody said, hell visited Calvary that day. That is where Jesus experienced what our hell would be. And so, this is this incredible moment where, as he says himself, Jesus said that he gave his life as a ransom for many.
[13:57] And then, at verse 45, we find, while the sun's light failed, and then it tells us, and the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
[14:08] Now, it's very important when we're reading about the death of the Lord Jesus Christ that we go from gospel to gospel. Because, as we mentioned last night, different gospel writers focus maybe a wee bit on another aspect of it.
[14:23] And, we're told, also, about that in Mark's gospel, about how that Jesus, about how the, what happened there after Jesus had let out this cry.
[14:40] And, also, that John's gospel will tell us that he also cries out, it is finished. And, the amazing thing is that when Jesus cried out, it is finished, he did so with a loud cry.
[14:54] And, that was supernatural. Because, the one thing, humanly speaking, Jesus could not have done, if we're just talking of this purely at a human level, neither thief or criminal on either side could have done what Jesus did.
[15:09] but, as Jesus is about to die, he cries out with a loud voice that everybody could hear. Now, a crucified person coming to death couldn't do that because one of the things that happens is that as the body sinks and as the, as you're held out, stretched out there, crucifixion was the most horrendous way to die.
[15:36] As it was said, the crucified person died a thousand deaths. It was the most painful, lingering death imaginable. But, one of the things that was happening is you were, you were suffocating and a loud cry was humanly impossible.
[15:52] But, Jesus gives this loud cry where he's showing and he says, it is finished. This is a cry not of a defeated man but the cry of a victor.
[16:05] it's a man who has triumphed, the person who has done it all. And he's saying at that moment, I have done everything that you've asked me to do. That's what he's saying to the father.
[16:16] It's finished. It's all done. It's all over. And so, there was this incredible moment. I've done all that you've asked me to do.
[16:29] And so, it is as he made this cry that the curtain of the temple was torn in two. And, again, we have to, if you go to Mark's gospel, it tells us that.
[16:44] And, it's after this cry that we read, the curtain of the temple was torn in two. And, in Mark's gospel, it tells us it was torn from the top to the bottom.
[16:56] And we've got to remember, if we go to the temple, that there was a huge outer court where sacrifice was made. And, the Old Testament church always had before them this idea that you couldn't have worship without sacrifice.
[17:15] Sacrifice and worship were intertwined. You couldn't separate them. And we should always remember that because it's still the same. Worship and sacrifice, we cannot separate worship and sacrifice.
[17:30] We are worshiping today and every day we worship only because of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. So often we forget that we sometimes just come in and out and we worship God.
[17:44] But we forget sometimes that this is only possible because of what Jesus has done. All the Old Testament worship, it was done in a way that symbolized and showed what Jesus was to do.
[18:00] And that's why there were all the sacrifices and every sacrifice was pointing towards Jesus. So without, you couldn't worship without, there was always a sacrifice.
[18:12] So we've always got to remember that our worship, the worship of today, is tied in to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Christ. But of course, in the temple then there was this big outer curtain.
[18:25] Then there was a curtain separating that to what was termed the holy place. And in the holy place, of course, there was the golden candlestick and the showbread and the altar of incense.
[18:38] But behind the holy place there was another curtain. And in there there was what was termed the most holy place or the holy of holies.
[18:50] It was in there that the Ark of the Covenant was. This was the place where God's presence was. Nobody was allowed in there except the high priest once a year on the day of atonement.
[19:03] And that is the curtain that was torn from top to bottom. And it happens at three o'clock, three p.m. And this is the very time that the priests would be in the temple preparing the evening sacrifice.
[19:21] And at that moment, this is where Jesus, it was the darkness from the sixth hour to the ninth hour, which was noon till three p.m. The priests sat in the temple at three p.m. preparing the evening sacrifice there's the darkness, and then it was just torn, just like a piece of paper would be ripped.
[19:43] And God is opening up what had forever been hidden. Because this curtain was a curtain of separation, a curtain of exclusion.
[19:56] The presence of God was in behind there. And now God is saying all the symbolic work that was typified in the temple, it's over.
[20:08] Because my son has just cried out, it is finished. There is no need anymore for the temple, and the sacrifices, and the altar, and the altar of incense, and the table of showbread, and the ark of the come.
[20:22] There's no more need for these things. And more than that, there is no direct access into my presence through what my son has done.
[20:34] All the sacrifices were pointing to that. No more need of sacrifice. Jesus has done it all. And so this is the wonderful thing.
[20:46] This once and for all way has been opened for us. And it's little wonder that we are coming to remember what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. He has done all that for us.
[20:59] And then it says in verse 46, Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. And having said this, he breathed his last.
[21:13] Now as we know, at one level this is the most extraordinary moment that has occurred in the world, where the Son of God, the second person of the Godhead, breathes his last, the source of all life and all living.
[21:30] Because we're told in the Bible that without him nothing that was made, that all things that were made were made by him and through him. But of course there's only one way that the Son of God could possibly die.
[21:45] And that was by taking something that could die to himself. And that is why he took two natures. That's why he took another nature, a human nature. Because he came for us.
[21:57] Everything he did was for us. And so he lived in this world for us. And he fulfilled the law all the time for us.
[22:08] And then he came to die for us. Now, everything about that Jesus did in his human nature, apart from sin, was similar to us.
[22:22] But his death was different. Although he humanly died, humanly, physically, his spirit, his soul, was severed from his body, and his body was physically lifeless.
[22:37] It was dead. It was a lifeless body that was carried from the cross and put into the grave. There was one difference. Jesus was in control of his death.
[22:49] Because when it tells us this, into your hands, and having said this, he breathed his last, he actually dismissed his spirit. He was in control.
[23:01] Because once he had finished all that was given him to do, and yes, his body was in the process of dying, he dismissed his spirit.
[23:15] you know, when the Roman soldiers came to break the legs of the three of them, because the Jews had said it's not right that they would be hanging on the cross going into the Sabbath.
[23:29] So they pleaded that they would hurry the death up. And of course, once your legs were broken, that would cause you to sink and to suffocate all the quicker. And so they came to break the legs, and when they came to the first criminal, they discovered, when they broke his leg, when they came to Jesus, they were amazed to discover that he was already dead.
[23:51] But Jesus had dismissed his spirit. He was in control all the time. And that's just the most amazing thing.
[24:03] And so we find that Jesus says just prior to that, into your hands I commit my spirit. And that is what we should do.
[24:13] every day of our life. As we know that we're going to die unless the Lord comes first. And in order to die well, we need to live well.
[24:26] That's of course how it was with Jesus. And when you think of what is happening here, we put our minds back 2,000 years, and we see Jesus on the cross, and we hear him, we hear his cries, we hear all he's saying, all he's doing.
[24:49] And let us remember that Jesus was active on the cross. We tend to think of Jesus, we talk of Jesus as active and passive obedience. But he was really active on the cross.
[25:01] he was bearing the punishment of our sin upon himself. There was activity going on all the time, as there was a relentless pouring of God's wrath upon his dear son.
[25:20] And he bore that for us all. If you're outside Jesus Christ today, I want you just to think for a moment of what it is you're doing.
[25:34] To think of rejecting this amazing love. God's love is shown in Jesus Christ in a way that no other love has ever been seen in this world.
[25:45] God the father loved his son with an eternal love. And yet he did this for us. Do not be like I plead with you.
[26:00] do not die like the criminal who was beside Jesus and never cried for salvation. He only asked that his life would go on, but he didn't ask for salvation.
[26:16] And as we said last night, Jesus will be found if you seek him. Even those who were seeking him for the wrong reason found him. if you seek him, you will find him.
[26:28] And remember, it doesn't need to be a big cry. And it doesn't need to be long words. The other criminal shows us how simple it was. Remember me, Lord.
[26:40] And when the Lord remembers, it means he is doing something. Remember me. You ask the Lord to remember you. Lord our God, we pray to bless us.
[26:57] And we ask that you will help us as we prepare now in a few moments when we will be coming to your table. And we give thanks, O Lord, that we were able to think upon just what it is that you have done for us.
[27:13] And help us to remember that this is the most important thing in the whole wide world for us, that we be found resting in the finished work of Christ.
[27:25] Jesus cried out, it is finished. All the doing has been done. May we rest in that finished work. Lord bless us and we pray and continue with us and take away sin in Jesus' name.
[27:39] Amen. We're going to sing now from Psalm 31. And this is from Sing Psalm, Psalm number 31. Sing Psalms, it's on page 36.
[28:02] And we're going to sing verses 1 to 7. in you I've taken refuge, Lord. You are my shelter in distress. Oh, let me never be ashamed, but save me in your righteousness.
[28:17] Lord, turn your ear to hear my cry. Come quickly to deliver me and be my rock and firm defense, my stronghold and security.
[28:27] You are my fortress and my rock. For your name's sake, be my sure guide. Preserve me from the trap that's set. You are the refuge where I hide.
[28:38] Redeem me, Lord, O God of truth. My spirit I commit to you. I hate all those who trust false gods. I trust the Lord, for he is true. I will rejoice and take delight in all the love that you have shown.
[28:53] For my affliction you have seen. To you my soul's distress is known. 1 to 7, Psalm 31. And you have taken refuge. Lord.
[29:03] Amen. In you I've taken refuge, Lord.
[29:15] You are my sheltered in distress. Oh, let me never be ashamed.
[29:31] shame, but save me in your righteousness. Lord, turn you here to hear my cry.
[29:50] Come quickly to deliver deliver me and be my role, confirm defense, my stronghold and security.
[30:15] team. You are my fortress of my hope.
[30:26] For you, in sick, be my sure guide. Please serve me from the crowd.
[30:42] God said, you are the refuge where I hide.
[30:53] Redeem me, Lord, God of God. God of truth. My spirit, I commit to you.
[31:11] I hate all those who trust on God. I trust the Lord for he is true.
[31:30] I will rejoice and take delight in all the love that you have shown for my ablation you are seen to you my soul's distressed stone.
[32:12] Before we sing again and we come to the table, we are doing what we turn fence on the table and it's just really in a sense to give an encouragement to those who are going to come and take of the bread and the wine.
[32:30] And so often, the Lord's people are often wondering, even at a time like this, am I doing the right thing? What if I don't really love the Lord Jesus? Am I really a Christian?
[32:44] People sometimes ask themselves that question. Well, if we go to Philippians chapter 2 and from verse 9 it tells us there about Jesus, therefore God has highly exalted him, that's Jesus, and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
[33:16] there are three things there that will tell us really about whether we love Jesus Christ or not. We see that God has exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.
[33:32] Now, Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ has different titles and different designations given, but the one that all the Lord's people love is the name Jesus, because we're told in the Bible, his name shall be called Jesus because he saves his people from their sins.
[33:55] And if you have come to know what that is, where you've asked Jesus and said, Lord Jesus, please forgive me my sin, come into my heart, help me to follow you, then that is speaking about somebody who's a Christian.
[34:14] The second thing that we see here is that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. That's going to happen for all created humanity once.
[34:26] There's going to come a time when every knee will bow. But at the moment, loads of people, their knees have never bowed before Christ. Their heart has never bowed before the Lord Jesus Christ, because they don't want him to be king of their life.
[34:42] but if you have bowed before him, and you've said, Lord, I want you to be king of my life, of my heart, then again that speaks of the Christian.
[34:57] And then the third thing is that every knee will bow in heaven and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
[35:08] Lord. The Bible tells us that we believe with our heart and that we confess with our mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord. So these are three very, very clear marks.
[35:22] That we love the name of Jesus, because he saves us from our sins. That we have bowed before him, and we want him to be Lord and to be king of our life.
[35:34] and that we have confessed that Jesus Christ is our Lord. And indeed what we're doing today is a confession, because Jesus says when you take the cup, you show forth.
[35:51] You're making a statement. You're making a confession. You show forth the Lord's death till he comes. We'll just read a few words from Galatians chapter 5, but I say walk by the spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
[36:09] For the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh. For these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things that you want to do.
[36:20] But if you are led by the spirit, you're not under the law. And then gives a list of the works of the flesh, which are evident, sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sociality, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.
[36:40] I warn you as I warned you before that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
[36:57] Against such things there is no law and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires and so on.
[37:07] We're going to sing now in Psalm 118 and as we sing the elders will put the elements of the bread and the wine on the table. Psalm 118 from verse 15 and we'll continue singing until the table is prepared.
[37:23] In dwellings of the righteous is heard the melody of joy and health. the Lord's right hand doth ever valiantly. The right hand of the mighty Lord exalted us on high.
[37:34] The right hand of the mighty Lord doth ever valiantly. And so on. We sing until the elements are on the table. In dwellings of the O and then ut pumping — apart The right hand of the mighty Lord Exalted is on high
[38:37] The right hand of the mighty Lord Thou never valiant me I shall not die but live and shall The works of God discover The Lord can't be just my sick soul But not to let him over For set thee open unto me The gates of righteousness
[39:41] Then will I enter into them And I the Lord will bless This is the gates of God by him The just shall enter in The will I praise for the greenness And thus my sick giving I will be going to read our warrant 1 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 23
[40:50] For I received from the Lord What I also delivered to you That the Lord Jesus on the night When he was betrayed took bread And when he had given thanks He broke it and said This is my body which is for you Do this in remembrance of me In the same way also he took the cup After supper saying This cup is a new covenant in my blood Do this as often as you drink it In remembrance of me For as often as you eat this bread And drink the cup You proclaim the Lord's death Until he comes Whoever therefore eats this bread Or drinks the cup of the Lord In an unworthy manner Will be guilty of profaning The body and blood of the Lord Let a person examine himself then And so eat of the bread And drink of the cup For anyone who eats and drinks Without discerning the Lord's body Eats and drinks judgment On himself And so on And we read there
[41:51] Of how on that night That Says there For I received From the Lord That also I delivered to you That the Lord Jesus On the night when he was betrayed Took bread And when he had given thanks He broke it So we will seek to Follow that practice And give thanks O Lord our God We give you thanks For this moment We give thanks Lord That we are identifying With what took place In the upper room We are following on As part of that Spiritual journey And it's amazing to think That all these years ago On that night When you first Took the bread And broke it And gave to the disciples That that act Has continued For all down Through the centuries Where thousands And indeed millions And millions And millions Of people Have followed on And done exactly The same thing And we give thanks Lord For what you have done
[42:51] For us And we give thanks That we are able To do just this Little thing for you And to show forth And to proclaim The Lord's death Till he comes Help us Lord Always to remember What you did for us How passionate It is How passionate It was And we pray then As we eat and drink That we will do so By faith That we will see you And not any other But help us Lord Also to identify With one another And to experience The fellowship And the sharing That is symbolized In what we do And we pray That you will bless us now Take away then From us our sin In Jesus name We ask it Amen We were reading Of how Jesus On the cross He said unto you Father into your hands I commit my spirit And the wonderful thing Is that Our lives Are also Committed
[43:52] Into the father's hands But they're also Committed into Jesus hands Because Jesus tells us In John's gospel That You are in That he's talking About his sheep And that he has A hold of his sheep And he says That they are in my hand And no person Is able to take them Out of my hand But he also says That they are In the father's hand And nobody can Take them out Of the father's hand So it's an amazing Thought that We are today In the hands Of the father And of the son Powerful hands We sang about that In Psalm 89 There hast an arm That's full of power Thy hand is great In might But While it's a powerful hand And powerful hands They're also Incredibly tender hands Not just powerful But tender You know When you love somebody You want to touch
[44:52] That passion You want to hold That passion You want to feel That's It's an automatic It's automatic When you love somebody You don't just say Will I It's automatic That you want to Hold somebody You love You want to To touch Somebody That you love And that's what Jesus has done For us He has reached out His arms And his hands Because he loves us He has touched us But before he reached out To his arms And his hands To touch us And to embrace us His arms And his hands Were stretched out By others And they were stretched out And nailed On the cross And his hands His beautiful hands Were pushed On the cross Because of his love For you He loved you Before he did that But in order For you to know that
[45:52] He had to do Before he could know That love He had to do that That is the love It's an amazing love And the wonderful thing Today is that Although he was Pusht for you And nailed For you Today You Are engraven On the palms Of his hands It's not the nails But you And you are always Before him And he always Loves you And he's always Looking out for you He's always Caring for you And this is part Of what we're doing Here He has provided A place for us To draw aside To be strengthened To be refreshed To be encouraged In a way And these hands Two thousand years ago Took bread And broke that bread Just as we will be Doing in a moment And we are And took the cup And passed that cup To his disciples And we're continuing We're part of that movement
[46:53] That began With the hands of Jesus Taking bread And taking wine Giving to the disciples And all these years later Thousands of years later We're doing exactly The same thing By faith And so We read There that On that night That Jesus When he had given thanks He took bread And he broke it And said This is my body Which is for you Do this In remembrance Of me In the same way Also He took the cup And he took the cup After supper Saying This cup Is a new covenant In my blood Do this As often as you drink it In remembrance Of me For as often as you eat This bread And drink this cup You proclaim The Lord's death Until he comes планets
[47:55] The Lord's death Is a new covenant That's Cabin theo Talking The Lord's deathahl to have me To have you Than To have me To have you Once truthful As gonna You Through Peace Are Spinach you To have you To have me Said You Listen So Here